India

In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, we’re asking our listeners to fill out a quick survey to help up improve in 2019. It should only take a minute or two. If you have the time, please click the link below to help out.

In this minisode, Mark takes the lead to tell the story of the discovery of Natal by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama on Christmas Day 1497, a story that has intrigued him since he first heard it as a child. The story has a festive aspect to it, and introduces a special guest.

In addition to our theme music by the talented Thomas O’Boyle, this episode featured a lot of music and sound effects, graciously made available for free by contributors at FreeSound.org, Looperman, Free Music Archive and Incompatech, for use under a Creative Commons license, by attribution.

Merry Christmas from the 80 Days team! We hope you enjoy this Christmas themed “minisode” – this is a new, shorter and more focused format of episode we’re trying out before we launch Season 3. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this different style of storytelling (positive or negative), or indeed we’d love to hear your thoughts on anything on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @80dayspodcast or by email at 80dayspodcast@gmail.com

In this episode of 80 Dayswe’ll be talking about Bhutan a small, landlocked Asian nation with one of the best flags you’ll ever see. Bhutan is a country of less than a million people, bordered by the Tibetan region of China to the North and India pretty much everywhere else. Exploring Bhutan for you are Luke Kelly@thelukejkelly, Mark Boyle@markboyle86 and Joe Byrne@anbeirneach in Hong Kong, the UK and Switzerland, respectively. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle)

It’s the last of the Himalayan Buddhist kingdoms, which unlike Tibet and Sikkim has retained its independence. Also known as , the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” due to the prevalence of the Drukpa Lineageschool of Buddhism (aka the Dragon People). Bhutan is a strongly Bhuddist country, which remained and cut off from the outside world for much of its history. It is one of only a few countries to have been independent throughout its entire history, never conquered, occupied, or governed by an outside power. Since opening its borders to tourists in the 1970s, Bhutan has embraced democracy and now it famously promotesthe concept of gross national happiness which is reflected in the Bhutan Gross National Happiness Index.

Drukpa Kunley was a “divine madman” and beloved “patron saint” of Bhutan, who wielded a euphemistic “flaming thunderbolt” is worth reading more about – he is an unexpected lewd and drunken hero in a tradition often seen as mild-mannered and serene

When TV Came to Bhutan – BBC Witness program about the change that came in 1999 when TV was introduced to the kingdom, discussing the effects with people who remember it

Fast Forward into Trouble – 2003 article in The Guardian about introduction of TV and changes to the society; this article really emphasises increases in crime

We mentioned how in the post-internet Bhutan, some Buddhist teachers now have a Facebook presence to exist in the modern world – one example is Venerable Lhalung Sungtrul Rinpoche, the current incarnation of the Terton Pema Lingpa (an associate of Guru Rinpoche)

This Country Isn’t Just Carbon Neutral – It’s Carbon Negative – a TED talk by Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay; as well as interesting details about Bhutan’s environmental policies, Tobgay gives insight into how modern Bhutan sees its place in the world and the importance of its culture and traditions